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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Fairly Expedient Gratification

I finished my second Sorbetto, the 'free and instant' top pattern. I'd been eyeballing this cotton voile at Stone Mountain and Daughter for a couple of months, but hadn't hit on the perfect pattern. As soon as i saw the Sorbetto, it seemed a perfect match. And it is! I made wider bias tape for this version than for the first one (scroll down), and like the almost funnel neckline effect it has. I'm thinking of making bias tape twice or two and a half times as wide and trying that on a variation of this neckline that's a bit more open.

I started with Sew Weekly's version of a Sorbetto sleeveas formatted by Sew Incidentally. I slashed the pattern from cap to hem seamline in eight places, adding 3/8" width along the armscye at each slash. This top took about 3, 3 and a half hours to sew (i finished the bias tape neckline and sleeve hems by hand on the inside, all the rest was done by machine). Quick and easy, plus it just pulls on! Perfect for those days when buttons and zips are just incomprehensible.

As you may guess from the photos' setting, i'm housesitting for my dad and bonus mom. There are a few copy shops within walking distance, which has inspired yet another fit of inspiration (huh?!?! i confuse even myself....). I've often thought a nice list of 'Tried aNd True' (TNT) patterns would be so helpful to have on hand while fabric shopping and wardrobe plotting generally. It occurred to me a couple of days ago that i could copy the line drawings off the pattern sleeves (sizing them all to the optimum scale), tape them on a piece of paper, and write or type up the pertinent notes. So i lugged a big bag of blouse patterns along to accomplish this project. I'm stoked!

As soon as i started putting this top together it brought this skirt to mind. I made it two and a half, three years ago and didn't wear it much at all last summer - maybe once? It is getting towards threadbare and has a couple of tiny bleached spots. But it's great in the heat, i loved wearing it with this top, and i thought it was a good idea to try it out to see if i wanted to make another one along these lines. I'm thinking yes.

Even though my wardrobe is on the small side, i've done this often - put a loved piece away for a year or two, then find it's fresh and fun when i return to it. Taking an extended hiatus seems to keep my relationship with individual items from getting stale, and somehow makes my clothing selection seem bigger. Do any of you rotate pieces in and out like this, or using some system of your own devising? Please share if you do, and if you don't, consider it! This strategy has the possibility of adding some spice to your wardrobe with very little fuss.

7 comments:

What a wonderful print - it looks like blossoms drifting down against a dawn sky.

I only rotate things in and out seasonally. And I like to be able to have them handy betweentimes in order to eyeball them so I remember what I have. I find I have to be familiar with how something feels on in order to reach for it. Quite often I might mean to purge something for being uncomfortable or tight and when I try it on, I find I'm totally wrong!

Sounds like a good system, and balances out the seasonal thing with the need/want to be able to know what you have. That second one i have to watch out for!

and i am very lucky :)

Hi Patti! "...and "pretend" I just bought them" heehee, that's part of the fun for me too! shopping for free!

Terri, i have to say that the impression i get from your blog is that you're in there wrassling with your closet on a pretty frequent basis. And wrassling with a purpose, too!

i can see where spending time just looking at what you got and thinking about outfits, etc. could be seen as frivolous, narcissistic, and blah blah .... but you have to get dressed! And you have to put in a certain amount of time, thought, effort or you end up forgetting what you have, and so on and not using this resource to it's best advantage.

No one thinks a person is nuts for getting the oil changed in the car or de-fragging the hard drive, do they?

This storing away of favoured items to make them more appealing when pulled out again is partly behind my capsule challenge that I'm doing (for a full year!). It has really been eye-opening to see how my attraction waxes and wanes for items that I won't be wearing again for a year!

Sheila!!! i was just reading your recap of your challenge so far this year and it is just

BLOWING MY MIND!!!!!!

i still haven't taken it all in. But i have to say it's just so interesting to see how much you can learn about your own style, what you like/not like about individual clothing, your shopping habits, so much when you slow down the process, take a piece and work with it for a month.

I think i'm most fascinated by how this challenge has made you so much more picky about quality in your clothes shopping. You're putting in a lot of work and effort just doing the challenge - much less blogging about it all! i really appreciate it, it's incredibly thought provoking and adds a real depth of thought to style blogging.

NOT Your Typical Style Blog

i'm not young, thin, tall, documented by artistic professional photog lover/husband, owner of hundreds of articles of clothing/shoes/accessories, much of a shopper, interested in traditional or popular ideas of flattery or what's 'in style'.

i do design and make most of my own clothes. i am interested in clothes that tell a story, echo different times and places, create subtle mixes of color, pattern and texture, and outfits that make distinctive silhouettes (which may or may not have anything to do with the human body).

i am interested in finding out what is enough. The '30 in 30 Challenge' isn't a challenge for me, it's pretty much my approach to dressing. i am interested in how ideas, people, places, animals and things that have nothing to do with fashion influence our style. i'm interested in how we express our style in ways that have nothing to do with clothes.

i do my best to post monday -friday, anything on the weekend is gravy.

About Me

hi. i have two blogs now - The Dashing Eccentric is a daily outfit/style type blog. Wanderin' Britches is a place to post nature/travel photos for those who aren't necessarily fascinated with my clothes (Dad, etc.)
i finally figured out this 'About Me' shows the same on both blogs.....